Automatic railway-switch.



F. L; HARMON.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH,

APPLICATION. man JUNE 16, 191 4.

Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

F. L. HARMON.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH,

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6 1914. I 1,192,892, latentedAug. 1,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FOSTER L. HARMON, oEnIoTA, TEENEssEE.

' AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

r Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

Application filed. June 16, 1914. Serial No. 845,472.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FosTEn L. HARMON, a citizen of the United States,.residing at Niota, in the county of McMinn, State of Tennessee, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticRailway-Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in railway switches, andparticularly to automatic railway switches.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a railway switch ofsuch construction and arrangement that danger of a train being derailedby running over an open switch, is reduced to a minimum.

Another object is to provide a switch operating mechanism and trainactuated means for opening and closing the switch, hand operating meansfor accomplishing the same result, and means for preventing directmanual actuation of the train actuated means.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of portions of a railway trackand switch together with the train and manual means for operating theswitch. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view on the line 22of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of the trainactuatedmeans. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the switch set in position for'thecurve. Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 3showing-the members in another position. Fig.7 is an enlarged verticalsectional view on the line-7-7- of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is an enlargedvertical transverse sectional view on the line 8'8 of Fig. 1.

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawings, 10 represents themain track and 11 the branch or siding. Secured to the tie 12 is a plate13 on which are pivotally mounted the combined switch points and guardrails 14 and 15, the former being adapted for use in connection with themain line while the latter is used for the curve of the branch. Disposedtransversely under the rails is a slidable bar 16 provided with a pairof vertically extending-pins 17 which engage in longitudinally arrangedgrooves 23, this shaft extendingunder the main track to a second smallerstand or housing 24.. On the end of the shaft within the stand 18 is apinion 25 which meshes with a pinion 20 while on the end of the shaftwhich is disposed within the housing 24 is a pinion 26 meshing with apinion- 27 carried by a transverse shaft 28 mounted in said housing. Onthe ends of the shaft 28 are mounted the crank disks 29 and 30,the-former of which stands in a horizontal plane when the switch isthrown for the main line, while the other crank disk stands in avertical position.

Mounted on the outer end of the tie 31 is a bell crank lever 32 andpivotally connected to one arm of this lever and to the disk 29 by thewrist pin 33 is a link or rod 34. Connected to the other disk 30 by.means of the wrist pin '35 is a. link or rod 36. The

other end of this rod 36 is pivotally connected to one end of a bar 37disposed transversely under the main track adjacent the switch, andpivoted centrally between the rails of the main track as indicated at38. vDisposed onthe same side of the main line but at the :other end ofthe switch is a stand 18? having mounted therein the shaft 19, thisshaft. carrying a pinion 20 within thestand and a star wheel 21'outwardly of the stand. This stand is also provided with the shaft 23and pinion 25, this latter pinionmeshing with the pinion 20. Theopposite ends of the shaft 23 carry crank Yes provided with a verticalnotch 47. A resilient lever 48 is pivotally mounted on the lower end ofthe post 45 and has its upper end normally held within the notch 47.Pivotally connected at its opposite ends to the lever 48 and to theadjacent end of the bar 37 is a link 49. Pivotally mounted adjacent thepost 45 is a hand lever 50, one end of which is loosely connected withthe bar 16 at 51. This bar 16 extends under a signal stand 52 and ispivotally connected to a crank disk 53 by means of a link 54, the saidcrank disk being mounted on the lower end of the signal post 55. Theupper end of the post carries the usual clear and danger target blades56 and 57 Mounted on the pilot of the locomotive 58 is a transverselyslidable rod 59, this rod having pivotally connected intermediate itsends one arm of a bell crank lever 60, this crank having its other armconnected to an operating lever in the cab by means of a connecting rodor link 61. This rod is mounted in brackets 62 carried by the pilot.This rod 59 when projected from either side of the locomotive is adaptedto engage with one of the star wheels 21 or 21 to rotate the same, aswill be readily understood.

The gear 25 and the gear on the shaft 28 are so proportioned withrespect to the gears 20 and 26, and the gear 25 so proportioned withrespect to the gear 20 that a one-fifth revolution of the gears 20 and20 will cause a one-half revolution of the gears 28 and 29 and shift thecranks 29 and 40 to points diametrically opposite to those at theirinitial or starting positions. The said crank disks will then assumepositions on a dead center.

Assuming that the switch to the main line has been left open as shown inFig. 5, and that a train is moving in the direction shown in Fig. 1,when the wheels of the lo comotive struck the open switch, it might bederailed. To obviate this'danger, the operating lever is moved to shiftthe rod 59 so as to project from the left side of the pilot. Thisprojecting end will engage the star wheel 21, turn the same which willcommunicate motion to the shaft 28 through the gearing in the stands 18and housing 24. It will be noted that the crank disk 29 is on a deadcenter, and by this rotation of the shaft 23 the crank disk will bemoved off center so as to actuate the rods or links 34 and 36. The rod34 will rock the bell crank lever 32, shifting the bar 16 toward thesignal stand and move the switch point 14 in linewith the main track andthe point away from the main track. The rod or link 36 at the same timerocks the lever or rod 37" on its pivot 38, moving the crank disk 39 androtating the shaft 23. The bell crank 42 is rocked by the movement ofthe bar 16 when the shaft 23 is rotated far enough to move the disk 40off dead center. When the rod 37 is rocked on its pivot, the link 49will pull the lever 48 out of the notch 47. Should it be desired toreturn the switch to original position after the train has passed alongthe main line, the rod 59 is left in projected position so that it willengage the star wheel 21. This will operate through the pinions andlinks 41 and 43 to slide the bar 16 back into original position.

Elementssimilar to those marked 59 and 60 are mounted on the last car ofthe train. This will be clearly understood, and it is not thoughtnecessary to illustrate.the same.

Should a train be coming from the siding toward the main line, the rod59 would be projected with the opposite side of the pilot so as toengage with the star wheel 22 on the other side of the stand.

To operate the switch by hand, it is necessary to move the lever 48 outof its notch for the purpose of moving the crank disks 29 and 40 offcenter. This will automatically occur when the star wheels are engagedby the rod 59, but it is impossible to turn the star wheels by hand toactuate the switch, the lever 48 being sufficiently strong to resistmovement when an attempt is made to turn the star wheel. When the lever48 is moved out of the notch 47, the lever 37 will be rocked on itspivot, whereby the links 36 and 41 will move the cranks and 39 asuflicient distance to shift the cranks and 29 off center. Thisaccomplished, the switchman can grasp the lever and actuate the bar 16to throw the switch points, and complete the rotation of the cranks, 40,29, 39, and 30. It will be noted that the operation of the lever 48simply moves the cranks 40, and 29 through an angle of approximately90", which correspondingly moves the entire mechanism, but the remainderof the operation of the mechanism is accomplished by the throwing of thelever 50. This is useful in shifting cars onto a siding or a branchline.

What is claimed is: V

1. In an automatic railway switch,amain line and a branch, a switch,train actuated tappets arranged at suitable distances from the ends ofthe switch for operating the switch, a manual means for operating theswitch including a releasable holding means connected with the tappet,said holding means being capable of movement manually to impart aninitial movement to the tappet.

2. In an automatic railway switch, a main line and a'branch, atransversely movable member between the main line and the branch, switchpoints mounted between the main line and the branch and movablyconnected with the transversely movable mem her, a rotatable trainactuated tappet mounted at one side of the main line and including gearsand cranks, means for holding the locking meansvis directly actuatedmanually. one of said cranks on dead center, said In testimony whereof Iaflix my signameans being capable of automatic release by ture, in thepresence of two witnesses.

the train actuated means, but incapable of FOSTER L. HARMON. manualrelease from the train actuated Witnesses:

means, and manual means for operating the I. L. Cox,

switch capable of movement only when the D. M. GARRISON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

